Welcome New Faculty Members

The College of Engineering at the University of PR Mayaguez, welcomed another crop of stellar new faculty members in 2015.

Name/Photo	Bio
Ricardo Rodríguez	Dr. Ricardo “Ricky” Rodriguez is an Engineering Fellow and Cybersecurity subject matter expert for Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2014 sales of $23 billion and 61,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, security and civil markets throughout the world. Raytheon is headquartered is in Waltham, Mass. Ricky is the Chief Systems Security Engineer for a cross-business, cross-company multi-hundred million dollar proprietary program and more recently the IA Lead on AMDR, an IDS flagship Radar program. Ricky holds a bachelor’s and master’s in computer engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, and a Ph.D. with a specialization in Cybersecurity from Nova Southeastern University’s Graduate School of Engineering and Computing. Ricky’s favorite quote is “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”.
	Anna M. Park is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Great Minds in STEM™ (GMiS), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Los Angeles County, California. In 2018, GMiS is celebrating its 30th year servicing communities around the country by providing Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programming, career opportunities, and outreach. Ms. Park joined the organization in July of 2000 as the Conference Manager, and soon rose to Director of Operations before accepting an appointment to the CEO’s position in 2014. Ms. Park is a full voting member on the GMiS Board of Directors. Ms. Park received her J.D. degree from the University of Southern California and her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. She remains an active almuna with both universities. Ms. Park enjoys serving as an annual judge for The International Latino Book Awards and she is a certified soccer referee for AYSO. She has three children in middle school and high school and the family resides in southern California where they maintain an exciting schedule centered on the kids’ school and sports activities.
	Jorge A. Relea González is engineering senior director of Geospatial Systems for Harris Corporation’s Space and Intelligence Systems Segment. Space and Intelligence Systems offers complete earth observation, weather, geospatial, space protection and intelligence solutions from advanced sensors and payloads, ground processing and information analytics. Relea assumed responsibility for Geospatial in 2016 reporting to the vice president of Engineering. In this position, Relea is responsible for the successful execution of the Geospatial BU portfolio and management of the engineering and operations workforce. Relea has a bachelor of science degree in computer engineering from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez and a master of science degree in project management from the George Washington University
	Esther Casas is a material validation engineer in the mission assurance supplier quality organization within Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems Business. Responsible for managing all aspects of her group across the north Texas region, her unit is laser focused on assuring that known “good material” enters the facilities from Raytheon suppliers. Her technical skills have been leveraged across the entire organization with specific emphasis on rapid disposition of non-complex defective material. She also works across the entire value stream to ensure that the more complex material she deals with is dispositioned accurately and quickly to reduce any program impact. Esther graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s in Engineering Technology specializing in Manufacturing Engineering, and for the first seven years of her career worked in the Medical Devices Industry as a Quality Engineer. During that time, she also volunteered with the United Way and the Boys and Girls Clubs, tutoring and mentoring at-risk kids. In addition to her bachelor’s degree, in 2012, Esther earned her master’s in Engineering Management from Southern Methodist University. Esther feels that it is the responsibility to grow and give back to the community and is passing on these values to her three children. She firmly believes “empowerment + hope = success!”
	Magaly Soto-Arce is currently the Engineering Manager for the Vehicle Engineering TRACK Program at General Motors. She is also the Lead Talent Scout for the University of Puerto Rico Recruitment and Engagement Team. In these roles, she overlooks the careers of approximately 400 engineers and executes the hiring strategy for the University of Puerto Rico. Her career at General Motors started as an intern before joining the company in 2008. Since then she served as a Design Release Engineer for Tire and Wheel Systems, Senior Buyer for Powertrain Mounts and Chassis Vehicle Systems Engineer (VSE) for the first ever Cadillac XT4. Magaly holds an M.Eng. in Global Automotive and Manufacturing from the University of Michigan, a Graduate degree in Design from Stanford and a B.S.M.E. from the University of Puerto Rico.
	Angel Crespo is the Program Director for Test and Support Products (T&SP) on the Fleet Ballistic Missile Program (FBM), as well as Director of the Eastern Range Site. As Program Director, Angel is responsible for ensuring continued performance of all test and support products on the long-standing Fleet Ballistic Missile contract. In his role of Site Director, he leads the management of all site resources and activities, and is responsible for the welfare of all Lockheed Martin employees at the Eastern Range, located on the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. With over 20 years of experience in the Aerospace and Defense Industries, Angel has held roles of increasing responsibility within executive operations, engineering management, and engineering design. Angel is a proud graduate of the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. Angel also holds Master of Science in Systems Engineering from the University of Arizona.